Life, 1928-01-26 · page 7 of 34
Life — January 26, 1928 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page mocks advice columns and dating etiquette for young men in the modern era. The upper cartoon shows a domestic scene where a man writing at a desk appears oblivious while his wife sits nearby—captioning the hypocrisy of advice on romance and proper behavior. The lower cartoon depicts two exaggerated figures in a violent confrontation over romantic rivalry, with the caption referencing Virginia law (likely dueling culture), mocking outdated masculine honor codes. The figure on the left threatens the seated figure. The text column "Hints for a Shy Young Man in a Modern World" ironically advises reading romance novels and attending musical comedies to become "modern," suggesting young men remain hopelessly naive about contemporary courtship despite cultural exposure. The satire targets the gap between prescribed behavior and actual social reality.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Hints for a Shy Young Man in a Modern World RFA quips in college papers about petting, necking, strok- ing, pawing, wrestling and other modern forms of dalliance until it becomes properly impressed upon your subconscious mind that this sort of thing is regarded as quite all right. Read letters in the Heart's Advice Column, especially those beginning: “Of course I let ’em pet me...” and ending “...we only live once, so why not? Live Wire,” until you be- come thoroughly conversant with the fact that they like it. Skim through novels by almost any serious novelist over forty, picking out the passages that retail the red-hot goings-on that do go on nowadays. Listen to several popular songs, paying espe- cial attention to those portions of the lyrics that begin: “Oh, boy...” and end with “...Thass how hot she is!” Attend performances of the legiti- mate drama, with its myriad ex- amples of how to have a swell time with some one else’s wife, how to spend a week-end with a nice young lady, how to manage artists’ models, Movern Para: Mildred, would you mind trembling over that improper book come where else? how to treat a private secretary and so forth. These last are for technique, and they're full of it. Sit for sev- eral successive Sundays under some “If we were in Virginia, sub, I should kill you for pro- posing a companionate marriage to my little gal!!!” I'm writing. eminent Fundamentalist divine. Make notes on what he says and wonder where in time he got all his dope. Go to several musical come- dies, just for a final polishing-off, and to bring your courage up to the proper ribald boiling-point. Then pick out a nice sporty-looking blonde, and, bearing in mind all your re- cently acquired training, start riglit in to get modern....By the time your black eyes have cleared up, your lip has healed, your arm has begun to knit, and you are up and around, searching for the writer of these few words of advice, he will be well on his way to Bermuda. And if he sees you coming, he will extend his trip through Garrangura, Australia, the Island of Hououang, the Ar- thritis Peninsula and other places. Heman Fay, Jr. Nubbville Sparks ARRAGUT SOONER hurts just as much to have a tooth extracted as it does to have one pulled. says it ee * If there’s any worse place to be than at a weddin’, it’s at a double one. ** * Doe Billsby pronounces the New Ford “enlargement of the flivver.” Les Van Every. comicbooks.com